we'll bloom again
by queen-sheep
Summary: coping is so much harder than it looks, isn't it? / luna lovegood, and the threstals she came to love


_Written for the Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition - Season 2 - Round 4_

* * *

In a house by the hills, far far away from reality, all was quiet.

It wasn't usually quiet.

No, it was usually a house of freedom and curiosity and belief, where odd sounds and laughter could be heard at any time of the day. It was a house full of all the intricacies of life, and everything between and beyond that. But today, it wasn't any of that. Today was a death day.

The skies above darkened briefly in passing. The trees haphazardly dancing around the house bowed their heads in mourning, while the grass wildly rustled in an unseen wind.

From the window, Luna watched the ceremonies solemnly. Her bright blonde hair remained unbrushed and in her face, and she clung tightly to ancient shell. It was stealing her warmth, leaving her small frame shivering and chilled to the bone, but still, she didn't move from her spot.

The clouds rumbled, darkened again.

_Drip_.

The girl looked up with an expression far too sad for her young face.

_Drip. Drip._

The sky opened up and let its tears fall.

_Dripdripdripdripdrip. _

In moments, the dry earth was dampened. It seemed to jerk the girl out of her trance. She blinked several times before hopping off her chair, gripping the shell tightly in one hand. Padding noiselessly to the stairs, she steadily ignored the scorch marks on the wall. If she didn't see them, then they surely weren't there and everything would be alright.

It was then that she heard it. Luna paused, cocked her head, listened.

Silence.

And then –

_Clack. _

It was coming from the back door. She hurried through the kitchen and listened again. She was awarded by another noise. For her, that settled the deal. She crept to the door, and turned it, pushing it outwards.

Immediately, something cold and hard and _big_ brushed against her face. She took a startled step back, seeing nothing but black upon black upon black. The distance, although slight, gave her a better image of what appeared in front of her. It was a horse.

Except, it wasn't like any horse she had ever seen. It was bony and deathly skinny, with skeletal wings extending out of its back. It swung its massive head to face her, and there it stood, simply staring at her with its blank, white eyes.

It didn't move, and she didn't move.

Eventually, Luna took a cautious step forward.

"Hello," she whispered.

It didn't respond, instead snorting and turning back into the forest behind her house. She watched at the doorway until it completely disappeared from view. Then she turned back into the house.

Luna settled back into her earlier seat, looking down at the shell she had forgotten. She placed it down on a side table, before going to wake up her dad.

-X-

_Threstals, they were called. Omens of death. Bad luck. _

-X-

She peeked out the window of the kitchen, staring. From the kitchen, her dad looked over at her, prominent bags under his eyes, and blinked.

"Is there something out there?" he asked.

Luna nodded.

"Be sure to treat them with respect," he said gently.

"I will," she intoned. "Can I give it the raw meat in the fridge?"

"Sure, honey," he said, setting two plates of eggs on the table, "after breakfast."

"Thanks Daddy," Luna said. She gave the window one last look before pattering to the table.

Once she was finished, she grabbed the largest slab of meat in the fridge. It was big, almost the size of her torso. Luna balanced it precariously on one arm, while the other reached up to the door knob, struggling to turn it. The door swung open with a small clicking sound, and the girl stumbled out into the open air.

The threstal was in the same area she last saw it. Its eyes, blank and white, turned to her once more. It bored into her, and she gave another whispered greeting. Carefully, cautiously, she stepped forward.

It didn't move.

She took another step, and then another, until she was face to face with its chest.

It still hadn't moved an inch.

Luna crouched down, and set down the food.

She backed away a couple steps, and returned its steady gaze. She turned back, and headed into the house.

When she checked again the next morning, both the meat and the creature were gone. Luna smiled at that – her first smile since _that day_. She hurried towards the stairs, to tell her dad about the event that had just occurred, when something caught her eye.

It was the shell she had set down the earlier. The edges of it were crumbled and sharp, and it's formerly glossy sheen had dulled down to nothing. It had been her mothers.

She walked over to it and picked it up. Luna sighed, her earlier smile completely gone, and set it back down again.

-X-

_Luna was never one to follow traditional beliefs anyway._

-X-

"Are you a boy?" she asked.

Silence was her answer.

"Girl?"

A snort.

"It must be boring out here," she mused to herself.

Another snort.

She tilted her head back, and smiled at the threstal looking down at her. Luna bunched up her skirts, standing up. Reaching out a hand, she stroked her once on the nose, before heading for the back door.

"Thanks for talking to me. I've got to go now though. There's something I have to do today," she said. "Mother would be proud, I think."

She headed for her room – and her paints. Grabbing them from her bookshelf, she turned back to the living room. There was just one last thing she needed. On the chair beside the window, she picked up the shell and cradled it in the palm of her hand.

Then, she turned, and faced the marks on the wall. Settling down, she eyed the colours, and chose a dull pink first.

One stroke, two.

Humming lightly, Luna switched colours.

Three, four, five.

The picture was coming together, meshing as if there was never a scar in the first place. Something new was forming.

Luna shuffled back and regarded it.

From the base of the wall, an ancient shell spread out with a flourish. On it, growing from it, was a lovely, budding flower. And behind the two was a great creature, protecting them both with its dark, leathery wings.

Luna let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. There was no need any more to hold it in.


End file.
